Sounds interesting.
I guess it’s a sort of custom frame sort of thing with the price brought down a bit by doing a limited production run.
So, if I come up with an idea for something that nobody else makes, say, an aluminium CX frame with rack mounts and sliding Rohloff dropouts, and there’s enough other people say “I’d buy that”, then it gets made.

It’ll be interesting to see how this idea compares with Singular’s Rooster on Kickstarter. That’s already had two genuine backers express a wish drop out.
With no financial commitment up front, I can see Pact being swamped with dreamers who have lost interest or bought something else by the time the frame comes to production.

bought something else by the time the frame comes to production.

I wonder if they can make a Rocket before Cotic do

It’s certainly an interesting theory, they’re clearly hoping that if a few folk say “I want that” it won’t matter if the ‘designer’ drops out.

Didn’t Kingdom Bike start with a similar ethos? Although they seem to have settled down to a few stock frames plus customisation?

I think it’s an interesting idea. “I’d like a bike for this purpose please” and trusting the company doing the designing to arrive at the best solution rather than specifying the details on tube lengths and angles yourself.

Sounds interesting. I’ve signed-up.

I’ve got an idea. So I’ll await something more formal coming through from him/them.

Maybe Brant sat down to design a new bike and couldn’t think of anything.

He’s sharpened all his pencils, organised his rulers and rubbers, and still nothing’s coming.

“Where can I get my next idea from…”

I suppose (like kickstarter) they ask for the money upfont?

Anyway, a 650b+ aluminum hardtail, 120mm forks with room for normal (well, 2.4″) 29er tyres, and a bent seatube to keep the chainstays as short as possible within those requirements. And a tapered 44mm lower, normal upper headtube (because I like the look of bling headsets).

No money up front. Unless you’d like to!

Newsletter coming tonight.

Get ideas in. We have two really solid ones already.

Its a cool idea. With the advent of stuff like slacksets, offset bushings etc is allows riders to do some mucking about with their current bikes and the end result may be something ace which others might want a slice of.

That said, thinking about what I’d want from a new bike I think theres plenty of mainstream choice out there already which I’d hazard a guess at being more affordable than a semi-custom type thing?

Get ideas in. We have two really solid ones already.

Will it work without On One? didn’t Brant try his own Brand before?

Will On-One work without Brant would be a better question 🙂

I think it’ll work out fine – he has the contacts and the design ideas. Direct to market and also that straight talking style of customer service he has 😉

I await my FUN short travel FS 26er…

Not sure I get it really.

Not sure there’s anything out there that essentially speaking hasn’t been tried before.

Sure, we could all come up with random ideas of a weird type of suspension/frame etc, but really, is there any point ?

genuine LOL @ plyphon 😀

actually it was more of a CUB (Chuckle Under Breath)

I wonder if they can make a Rocket before Cotic do

I gave up waiting and have a Whyte G150S coming in the very near future.

I’m with you Weeksy, i’m not sure what this really brings to the party?

I mean, there are already plenty of custom frame builders if you want something out of the ordinary?

I mean, there are already plenty of custom frame builders if you want something out of the ordinary?

Do they have the experience to build, for example, a FS bike? Can they match the price that Pact will secure through contacts and reasonable production run sizes?

It’s brants design input as well.

Do they have the experience to build, for example, a FS bike? Can they match the price that Pact will secure through contacts and reasonable production run sizes?

+1

Unless you’ve got an additioanl 50% on top of production Ti or high end Steel money, custom isn’t an option. But production only makes sense for big markets.

Not sure there’s anything out there that essentially speaking hasn’t been tried before

See my example in the first post of a Rohloff CX bike.
I’m not saying I would definitely buy one, or that I would invest my own money in producing them in the hope of selling them in any quantity, but it’s an idea that anyone looking for a niche market should consider.

On a smaller scale, it’s surprising how many bikes with a Rohloff dropout option don’t have cable guides for the twin cables.
If you ride a Rohloff, it’s an obvious add on.
If you design bike frames and are simply making a Rohloff option, it’s easily overlooked
Perhaps if the end users were more involved in the design, things like this would be included right from the start.

My input. Never put a black drop shadow under a black logo, just makes legibility worse.

Brant bounces back with Pact Bikes

Guess we’re all side-stepping the fact the website has a splash screen?

I opened up the link earlier on my phone, and genuinely didn’t consider clicking the logo to get further info.

Not a dig, just might want to put *click for info* or something similar.

…or maybe not everyone is as thick as I am.

See my example in the first post of a Rohloff CX bike.
I’m not saying I would definitely buy one, or that I would invest my own money in producing them in the hope of selling them in any quantity, but it’s an idea that anyone looking for a niche market should consider

But is a complete and utter ‘niche’ market enough to make a good living from ?

But is a complete and utter ‘niche’ market enough to make a good living from ?

I’ve had two other requests for that today already.

Not a dig, just might want to put *click for info* or something similar.

…or maybe not everyone is as thick as I am.

you have mail. (if that’s your real mail account in your profile).

Brant – cheap, light & strong…. thats the holy grail 😉

[dreams]I’d like a clean lined, rigid, SS for short arses, 29 front, 650b rear, 953[/dreams]

I’ve had two other requests for that today already.

not trying to dismiss you here, but lets assume you want a salary of say £20,000 a year…. that’s a LOT of niche bikes you need to be flogging, once you add on overheads, parts, materials… you can’t be making say £500 a bike… so you’d need to sell 40 of them to even begin with…

…or maybe not everyone is as thick as I am.

I am 😳

I might have another look now I know it’s more than just a splash screen

I opened up the link earlier on my phone, and genuinely didn’t consider clicking the logo to get further info.

Same!

Signed up.

What’s the best way of sending you ideas?
The email addy in the confirmation post?

Numpty IT question I know.

that’s a LOT of niche bikes you need to be flogging, once you add on overheads, parts, materials… you can’t be making say £500 a bike… so you’d need to sell 40 of them to even begin with…

from an “informed” guess at the numbers, I dont think it’s quite so hard to get to the margins if you are clear you are producing a v specific product targeted almost at a self-selecting audience. You wouldnt have to discount down to bare minimum margin to be “competitive” because price is not where you are fighting the competition.

Being a design and spec brand, almost on subscription product basis, rather than wholly a manufacturer would keep the fixed costs far far lower.

Guess we’re all side-stepping the fact the website has a splash screen?

I opened up the link earlier on my phone, and genuinely didn’t consider clicking the logo to get further info.

Not a dig, just might want to put *click for info* or something similar.

…or maybe not everyone is as thick as I am.

Is it better now?

Happy for your graphical help Jamie.

Heh…

Is it better now?

I think this is an interesting idea and wish you all the best, but if I can offer some constructive criticism: the fact I know – via STW – that this is a Brant Richards project gives it some credibility because I know what you’ve done in the past and you have some pedigree. Without that knowledge the site looks a bit off-putting.

Lose the Futurama GIF. Add in a contact telephone number. Put some biography in there to gain credibility to those who weren’t directed there from STW. Lose the drop shadow 😉

Good luck

While you at it, change the strap to ‘stealing your ideas’

Please make me a 20″ evil sovereign with a modern headtube (for 26 inch wheels of course).

Euro – a new Sov is planed from Evil apparently

I’m sure a new Sovereign was planned from Evil about 53 times over the last few years.

I await my FUN short travel FS 26er 29er…

ho hum

Please make me a 20″ evil sovereign with a modern headtube (for 26 inch wheels of course).

Sov is steel, shouldn’t cost too much for a framebuilder to replace the standard headtube with a 44mm version.

Do they have the experience to build, for example, a FS bike? Can they match the price that Pact will secure through contacts and reasonable production run sizes?

I mean, there are already plenty of custom frame builders if you want something out of the ordinary?

And don’t they make out they are the dogs danglies, I’ve dealt with two reliable ones ,one stateside (not sure if Lynskey counts) but there there did seem to be a lot of I’m in the premier league attitude about them which was pretty obvious before deciding which builder to go for , do they not realize cock wun in the china factory does the job just as well